


A Change of Heart

by tartshapedbox (orphan_account)



Category: The Avengers (2012), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuties, Emotions, Fluff, M/M, Wedding, music references, steve can't do the tie thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 06:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/tartshapedbox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark has never much liked the idea of marriage. At least, that’s what he tells everyone, including Steve Rogers, his partner of three years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Change of Heart

“Tony, could you help me with this tie?”

            Tony looked over at him lazily. “Yeah, sure.” Steve watched as he straightened his lopsided bowtie, his hands moving with smooth practice. Steve didn’t wear suits often. The last one he had worn was to Bucky’s funeral, and that was decades ago. Tony, however, wore them on every date he’d ever been on, whether it was with Steve or the women he’d been with before him.

            “JARVIS, pull the Aston around to the front, would ya’?” Tony asked the house.

            _*Absolutely, sir. Will that be all?*_

            “Yeah, that sounds about right. Don’t wait up.”

            _*Yes sir.*_

            “Natasha and Clint are finally getting married. I almost can’t believe it.” Steve smiled as Tony finished with his tie. Tony’s hand lingered on his chest. Steve felt his blood pressure build like it always did when Tony touched him, even after three years with him.

            “I know. The Hawk got himself one hell of a deal there.” Tony grinned.

            Jealousy flared up in Steve stomach, overshadowing the lust. He shrugged Tony’s hand off of him. “How so?”

            Tony rolled his eyes. “It was sarcasm, Steve. Get a grip.” Steve always went and pissed him off on days that were supposed to be happy.

            “Didn’t sound like it.” Steve wouldn’t meet Tony’s eyes.

            “Look, Cap. I know what your problem is, alright? I don’t love Natasha. I never did. The only woman that I ever really cared aboutwas Pepper, and that’s over. She’s with Bruce, alright? I’m with you. You know how I feel about you.” Tony took Steve’s hand to try and avoid saying the three words he’d never quite gotten used to.

            “And just how do you feel about me? Put it into, I don’t know, three words?” Steve crossed his arms.

            _Fuck._  “God damnit, Steve. You fucking know, alright? Why don’t you tell me?”

            Steve shook off Tony’s hand and looked at him in disbelief. “I know you _love_ me, Stark, and I love you too. I’m not afraid to say it, either. That’s not even my _problem_ , alright? Damn.” He shook his head. “You know, I’d think you’d know me a little better by now. We’ve had this argument a dozen times.”

            “Oh, so you’re keeping count?” Tony said, that stupid grin plastered on his face again.

Steve’s lusty feelings had died by now, replaced by the smoldering frustration that filled him whenever they discussed this. “Damn, Tony! Is everything a joke to you? Does what I want even matter to you?” He dug his nails into his palms to keep from burying his fist in Tony’s jaw.

“Steve, c’mon. You said it: we’ve had this argument a dozen times. There’s not going to be a different outcome this time.” He grabbed Steve’s clenched hand for the second time. “Unless you’re willing to persuade me?” Tony batted his eyelashes at Steve, giving him a cheesy come-hither look.

Steve just waved it off, ignoring the lust that was creeping its way back into his trousers.

Frustrated, Tony snapped, “Can we please just forget about it tonight? Tonight’s about Mr. and Mrs. Barton. Let’s just go, have a couple glasses of champagne and try to have a good time. And don’t start crying either!” Tony pointed a finger at Steve. “Natasha’ll think you’re her mom or something.”

“Whatever, Tony.” He tried to walk away, but Tony pulled him back. He moved his hands to Steve’s neck and looked into his blue eyes.

Tony’s heart twisted a bit, partly in fear, mostly in love. He pretended that Steve was telepathic, and pulled him down to kiss him as he silently said, _Damn it. I love you. So much. It’s just… I’m scared, alright? Fuck. I don’t want this to change…_

The last three years flashed through Steve’s mind as Tony’s lips moved with his: the Thursday night movies they’d kept up, the countless hours they’d spent in bed, all of his late-night talks with drunk, honest Tony, talking about the future and adopting and marriage. Well, that last one was always Steve’s topic. And he only talked about it when Tony had fallen asleep.

Suddenly, Steve remembered one night in particular:

_Tony had fallen from his drunken stupor into a well-deserved sleep. Steve watched as his chest rose and fell, making sure that he was still breathing; making sure that he was real. After Tony had fallen into bed, they had just had a short conversation: one that Tony wouldn’t remember when he woke in the morning, but one that Steve would never forget._

_“Hey, Cap?” Tony slurred, closer to slumber than Steve wanted him to be._

_“Yeah?” He adjusted himself so that he could look into Tony’s half-mast eyes._

_Tony sighed. “Do you ever think about us, I don’t know, moving in together?”_

_“Tony, we already live together.” Steve chuckled, stroking Tony’s face._

_Tony smiled, the kind of smile that belonged in the bedroom. “I know. I mean like, me selling the mansion. I like your place more.” Tony yawned. “Maybe adopt us a kid or two. I don’t know…” He trailed off, wandering into whatever dream this night’s sleep held in store for him._

_It was just a sentence, a drunken, uncensored muttering, but it made Steve’s heart pound, made hope flare in his chest. Tony wanted_ kids _. Maybe even one day they’d get married. Steve knew that it would be a long, sober day before Tony would want that, but those seven words gave new life to the dream._

Steve pulled away from Tony, but still held his head between his palms.

“We should probably get going. We might be late.” Tony’s lips were kiss-swollen, his face flushed.

“Yeah, probably.” Tony moved away from Steve to grab his coat. “JARVIS, we’re gone. Get Dummy started on machining those parts for the new reactor.”

_*Yes sir. Shall I remove the invitation to the wedding from my files?*_

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Tony said, grinning & giving JARVIS a subtle thumbs-up.

The men grabbed their wallets from the dresser and made their way to the front of the mansion & Tony’s Aston Martin.

Steve sat in the passenger seat as Tony drove down that winding, country road to the tiny wedding chapel. Tony was headbanging to AC/DC, as usual, but all Steve could think about was Tony in a white suit, walking down the aisle toward the altar, toward him.

* * *

            The wedding was beautiful; every flower precisely placed, the cute little flower girl, one of Natasha’s ballet students, Clint’s perfectly pressed suit. But the most beautiful thing about it all was Natasha.

            The look on Clint’s face was priceless when she walked through the doors at the end of the aisle. It was filled with awe, admiration, and love, the kind of look only soon-to-be grooms’ faces can hold up for long.

            Her conservative lace dress, with its full sleeves and three-foot train, made her Black Widow cat suit look like a burlap sack. She had her stunning red hair twisted into a simple bun, a translucent veil covering her still-overwhelmingly angelic face.

            The look in her eyes said that she wasn’t here for any of the guests. She was there for Clint and no one else. She didn’t take her eyes away from his throughout the entire ceremony.

“Clinton Barton, do you take Natasha Romanoff as your lawfully wedded wife, for better, or for…”

“Natasha Romanoff, do you take Clinton Barton as your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for…”

“I do,” from Clint.

“I do,” from Natasha.

Then, the kiss. It was modest, but the look Clint gave her afterward said, _Later, I’ll show you what I’m made of._

Steve noticed the exchange, and chuckled quietly. _Right,_ he thought, _The Hawk doesn’t believe in premarital sex._ He silently wishes Clint the best of luck, and chuckles again.

* * *

 

            Tony and Steve were in line for refreshments at the wedding reception when the music for the first dance started. The song was The Postal Service’s ‘ _Such Great Heights.’_ Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to watch as Natasha & Clint held each other on the dance floor. They were whispering to each other and laughing as they moved around in front of the crowd. You could feel the warmth coming off of the two, the kind of warmth only newlyweds radiated.

            ♪ “ _I’m thinking it’s a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images, and when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned…” ♪_

            Steve’s eyes stung and his heart swelled. He reached over and intertwined Tony’s fingers with his.

            Tony looked peripherally at Steve, at his red, swollen eyes, at his face that tried so hard to mask what he was feeling. Tony could see right through it. He just smiled a small, knowing smile in no particular direction and squeezed Steve’s hand. _I love you, Rogers, you weird, traditional guy, you._

* * *

            Natasha picks up a microphone and announces, “Okay, everyone. Time for the couple’s dance!” Groups of two make their way to the dance floor,but Tony stays put, still looking at Clint and Natasha.

            Confusion colors Steve’s face. If it wasn’t Natasha that was making him act like this, then what was? Knowing Tony, he’d blow it off. “It’s just your perception,” he’d say.

            He decides answers can wait. “Tony, will you dance with me?”

            “Of course, Cap.” Tony smiles that bedroom smile again. Steve cherished every single sober one he received. He leads Tony to the floor, and then takes him in his arms.

            Ed Sheeran’s ‘ _Kiss Me_ ’ is the couples’ song.

            ♪ “ _Settle down with me. Cover me up; cuddle me in. Lie down with me, and hold me in your arms. Your heart’s against my chest, your lips pressed to my neck, I’ve fallen for your eyes, but they don’t know me yet. With a feeling I’ll forget: I’m in love now.” ♪_

As they sway amongst the other pairs, Clint & Natasha, Thor & Jane, Bruce & Pepper, the newlywed’s other friends, Steve tries to kiss Tony’s forehead, but he moves before he can make contact.

            “Tony? You okay?” Steve asked, looking into Tony’s brown eyes, concerned.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think I had enough chlorophyll today…” He shrugs & nods to the reactor in his chest, hidden by his suit.

            Steve knows there’s more to it than that, but again, he decides that answers can wait. He just presses his hand to the reactor for a moment, silently cursing its toxic, palladium core. Then, he puts his hands back in their correct places, and the dance goes on.

            ♪ “ _I’ve been feeling everything from hate to love, from love to lust, from lust to truth. I guess that’s how I know….” ♪_

            Suddenly, Tony looks up at Steve. There’s a long moment of silence as they stare into each other’s eyes, trying to read each other’s thoughts. Finally, Tony speaks.

            “Okay…” He has to fight to maintain eye contact. “I want this.” Tony says, then blushes, then looks down, away from Steve’s shocked eyes.

            “W-what?” Steve says, trying hard not to get his hopes up.

            “I want this.” He motions around the reception hall. “All of it. With you.”

            Every ounce of uneasiness drains from between them, and another, different warmth hits them both. Tony had expected a smug ‘I told you so,’ but Steve doesn’t say a word. He just lets out a relieved sigh and leans down to kiss him, and, for the first time, Tony meets him halfway.


End file.
